


True North

by silver_drip



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 08:56:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6747385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_drip/pseuds/silver_drip
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy always sticks to her morals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	True North

**Author's Note:**

> I was reading a lot of Darcy-centric stories and this came to mind.

* * *

Darcy was a good girl.

She brushed, flossed, and gargled.

She ate her Wheaties and said the pledge of allegiance with all her heart.  

She raised her hand in class and never lied.

Darcy liked doing the right thing. She strived to it from the day she learned that it wasn’t nice to push the other kids on the playground.

Darcy was a good girl and never let her morals waver.

* * *

Darcy was stoked for her first solo-mission.

Minding some scientist wasn’t glamourous, but a simple assignment like this was a rite of passage.

Stars were cool and Jane was a bit of a lost soul. Darcy loved caring for her, letting her focus on science.

The situation heated up fast and Darcy would admit that she was a bit trigger happy with her taser. She blamed it on first solo-mission jitters. It didn’t help that she had opted out of physical training.

She called it in to her handler and SHIELD got there scary fast. The other agents made her nervous. They were all a lot more experienced than her. Seeing a few familiar faces helped, though she couldn’t talk to them without risking her cover.

It was easy to get into the DMV database and get (possibly) Thor an ID. She didn’t follow him on his crazy mission, even though it sounded kind of fun.

The Destroyer came to their little town and Darcy used her various skills to save puppies and kittens.

She was good like that.

* * *

The news about Loki, the Avengers, and the Battle of New York blew her mind.

The universe was bigger than she knew and she had to do her part to protect it.

Her conviction was strengthened when her bestie, Jane, was poisoned by alien tech.

* * *

Darcy cried when she heard about the events in DC.

What was worse was that the world wasn’t ready for all the information that was leaked.

She knew that not everyone could see the big picture like her. It helped that she had studied political science for half a decade.

Most people were ignorant of how shady governments were in order to maintain peace and the welfare of the world.

Everything had gone to shit, but she was not deterred. No matter how dire things were the world always bounced back to some semblance of normalcy.

* * *

Landing a job with the Avengers was the coolist thing ever.

They were all good people and made her feel like family.

Being a Science Wrangler kept her busy and had her mind reeling. She could barely keep up with Jane, let alone Bruce or Tony.

Clint was a peach and she loved vegging out with him.

Getting self-defense lessons directly from the infamous Black Widow was the only work-out she willingly took part in.

Captain America wasn’t around for the first few months, which Darcy was thankful for. He was intimidating.

It wasn’t so bad when she met Steve. She could understand where he was coming from. They talked about politics often. His naivety irked her on many occasions, but he had the right to his opinions. When he really annoyed her she started throwing around pop-culture references. It was a sneaky trick, but kept her from scolding him.

With Steve came the Winter Soldier.

* * *

Half a year later Darcy and the Winter Soldier were out grocery shopping.

Darcy was never a fan of hauling all the ingredients she needed to make surprise cupcakes for the Avengers. Thor and Steve counted as five mouths apiece.

She liked seeing them all smile because of her cooking.

The Winter Soldier finished loading the groceries into the SUV, which Darcy had playfully named the Avengers Mobile.

“Sputnik,” Darcy said and watched the Winter Soldier fall to the ground unconscious. She pulled a syringe from her purse and stuck him with it.

Less than five seconds later a cliché white paneled van stopped in front of her. Four agents hopped out and grabbed the asset.

She was glad they took her advice and brought along cuffs that he wouldn’t be able to break out of, a muzzle, and a gurney that would keep him immobile. She’d seen how hard he could fight when he felt cornered.

One of the agents stayed behind.

“Give it to me fast and dirty,” Darcy said and the agent lashed out instantly. Pain blossomed and spread. She got in a few good licks, but a gunshot to the shoulder knocked her down. She had enough sense to try to put pressure on it before she fell unconscious.

* * *

She woke up in the med-bay of Avengers Tower.

Jane was wedged between her and the hospital bed’s safety rails. She was drooling on the pillow and Darcy would coo at how cute she was if she didn’t feel like shit.

She pressed the button she saw in all the movies and felt morphine ooze into her veins.

She sighed in relief and Jane woke up.

“Shouldn’t you be sciencing?” Darcy asked, her voice sounding raspy.

“You’re awake!” Jane shot up and Darcy flinched as she was jostled. “Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” Jane’s hands were fluttering around her. “I’ll get the nurse.” Jane got out of the bed in an exaggeratedly slow movement.

Darcy giggled at her even though it hurt something fierce.

A doctor came by and gave her a detailed report on all her injuries.

That agent had broken one of her teeth. That asshole.

* * *

Over the next week Jane never left her side for more than a few minutes. She informed Darcy on what had happened.

All the Avengers were out, trying to track down the Winter Soldier. Darcy knew they wouldn’t find the asset. The mission to recapture it had come from the top. They weren’t going to make a mistake.

Jane had brought her research up to the med-bay and Darcy was soaking in her familiar science babble.

Darcy pressed the button for the nurse when she felt hunger coming on. When he didn’t come after a few minutes and even more pushing of the button Darcy gave Jane her best sad look. It snapped Jane out of her sciencing.

Jane promised to give the nurse a good scolding as she left.

Darcy heard the soft click of the lock after the door closed.

Looked like it was time to skedaddle.

* * *

“Hail Hydra,” Darcy whispered, not letting Steve’s baby-blues affect her.

It was kind of embarrassing, how fast she’d been captured. At least she had made it out of New York.

“Why, just… why?”

“We’re not the enemy, Cap.” He flinched at the nickname. “Hydra has changed since you went under. If we had a different name you wouldn’t recognize us.”

“Where’s Bucky?”

“The asset is where it belongs,” Darcy said firmly, raising her chin.

“He’s a human being! You two baked cookies together!”

“The asset needed fuel and I like baking.”

“He’s a human!” Steve looked like he was on the verge of crying. Natasha would have been a better interrogator, but she supposed they were trying to appeal to her emotions by using Steve.

“He signed away that right when he decided to take the life of someone else.”

“He was a soldier! He has rights!” Steve’s face became blotchy as he began crying. “He’s not a _thing_. Hydra can’t just erase his personhood. How can you ever think that’s alright to do?!”

“How many people did you take the rights away from? How many have you killed?” Darcy said strongly. She wouldn’t let his desperation confuse her. She saw the bigger picture.

“I was, and still am, protecting my country!”

“You took away the right to live of so many because you thought it was the ‘right thing to do’. Hydra already had plans to overthrow the Nazis and their allies when they won the war. They didn’t go charging in headfirst into a war, killing swaths of people of different ideologies. When Hydra has to kill it is with precision and great forethought. But then you had to go ruin everything.” Darcy spit at his feet. “Do you know how peaceful the world would be if you hadn’t interfered?”

“They were conducting human testing!”

“And what about all the people who died in the war? Those burned and dismembered, choking on their own blood. We kept our people unconscious and many of them were volunteers because they weren’t narrow minded. It’s a hell of a lot better way to go. Hydra is restrained by practice and has hurt far fewer than you believe.”

“This isn’t you, Darcy.” Steve leaned away from her. “You’re the woman who has carried Jane to bed on multiple occasions, stopped Tony from drinking himself into a stupor, bandaged up Nat when she refused to see anyone… What did they do to you?” He looked devastated. Darcy sighed and shook her head.

“Who you’re describing is me. Is it so hard for you to believe that someone who works for Hydra could do all those things? You all are my family. We just have different political views.”

“Then why did you take Bucky? Why did you hurt us?”

“The asset was never family. The Winter Soldier morphed into what you wanted it to be, the same way it will change back for Hydra. I did what I did for the same reason soldiers leave their families behind to go fight a war, because things are bigger than the individual. They’re bigger than you and the Avengers. I’m willing to lose everything to protect and guide the world. The Winter Soldier will help bring order and world peace. It will be bloody at first, but in the long run it will lead to less deaths.”

“You’re insane,” Steve whispered. “Just tell me where Bucky is.”

“Sergeant Barnes has been dead a long time.” Darcy felt lightheaded. She had really wanted to stay with the Avengers and help Hydra, but that would never happen again. “I really do love you all. Don’t feel guilty about this when you finally see the truth.”

“Guilty about what?” His voice sounded far away.

“Please, just give Hydra a chance.” Darcy smiled sadly at him before she let out her final breath.


End file.
